MLB announces in-market streaming deal with Fox for 2016 season

There are still plenty of issues with MLB’s local television model – hello, fans in Las Vegas and Iowa blacked out of five or six teams who you can’t see on your local cable package. But one smaller issue is being fixed for the 2016 season – MLB will allow fans to stream games in-market. The catches are that only Fox and MLB have reached an agreement (sorry, Comcast), and that you must have an authenticated login to stream the games (sorry, cord cutters).

Some of the details from SBJ’s Eric Fisher…

This would be an authenticated stream through Fox Sports Go, distributor portals, for 15 clubs in Fox local RSN portfolio

The Blue Jays allow in-market streaming through Rogers, but considering that Rogers *owns* the team, that makes things a tad bit easier. The Yankees and Padres have also experimented with in-market streaming in the past, but it didn’t exactly go too well.

Regardless of the issues, this is a huge deal for MLB, Fox, and its fans – the lack of in-market streaming has been ridiculous, especially considering that both the NBA and NHL got deals done with various providers recently. MLB was really the last holdout, and now that Fox (which owns the broadcast rights to 15 teams through their RSNs) has gotten a deal done, the other RSNs will likely up falling into line sooner rather than later.